My parents were both born in 1930. They grew up during the Depression. They wanted their children to have secure lives, to have a good salary and a pension plan. If I could've guaranteed that I'd be a best-selling writer, that would've been one thing, but nobody could say that. So I knew better than to say that was ambition.

I discovered that, given the indescribable nature of what I write, the only way to sell it is to give people free samples.

Eight was about the age I was when I realized that people actually produced books, they didn't just spring out of the library shelves.

Diana Gabaldon Quotes